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He’d probably regretted that moment ever since and now wanted to establish a purely professional medical relationship elsewhere, even if it meant forty miles to Big Timber or a hundred to Bozeman.
“Barring any emergency calls, I’ll be home this afternoon.”
“Good. I’ll stop by.”
She held the receiver long after he’d hung up, wondering why she already felt such a sense of loss, when she’d never really had him at all.
MANDY MET JOLIEat the cabin door, dressed and glowing with good health. She was at thirty-three weeks now, with none of the problems that plagued some pregnant women at this point. So far.
In that baggy sweatshirt and sweatpants, she didn’t look nearly as unwieldy as some did at this point.
“I figured you’d still be sleeping since this is your day off.”
“It’s getting a little harder to sleep,” Mandy admitted. “I have to get up a lot to go to the bathroom, and that’s gettingreallyold.”
Jolie chuckled. “Mother Nature is training you for all those nighttime feedings.” She joined Mandy on the porch and leaned against the railing. “Mmm...it feels so good to get out of that clinic for a while.”
“How is your dad?”
“He refused transfer to the hospital, won’t go for tests. He thinks he’s immortal, I guess. None of us can convince him otherwise.”
A startled look flashed across Mandy’s face.
“What is it? Is something wrong?”
Mandy laid a hand over her belly and grinned. “She kicked, really hard. I think she’s going to be a soccer player.”
“Or...hemight be a football player.”
“Nope, I just know this is a girl. It’s a good thing, too, because a girl will be easier to raise on my own. I don’t know much about sports, and fixing cars, and all that guy stuff.”
To raise on her own.Jolie felt a flash of concern. Mandy had no idea just how hard that would be. “Have you talked to Bobby? Tried to work things out?”
“No.”
“At least for custody and child support issues?”
Mandy stiffened. “No one is taking my baby.”
“Of course not,” Jolie soothed as she searched for another angle. “Just think about it. It isn’t fair if Bobby ignores his responsibility, and the extra money would help you a lot.”
“He can jump off a cliff, for all I care.” Hurt and anger shimmered in Mandy’s eyes. “I’m going to move far away and go to school.”
Which meant that the tiniest Maxwell probably would be shifted from one daycare to the next, away from the extended family that would have showered him—or her—with attention and love.
“Don’t forget that you’re welcome to stay with me until the baby is a little older, if you’d like,” Jolie said slowly. “It wouldn’t be charity. You could even bring the baby to work at the clinic, if you wanted to.”
Despite her brave words, there was doubt and a touch of worry in Mandy’s expression. “Maybe...”
“Hey, did you see the Lamaze flyer that came to the clinic yesterday?”
The change of subject brought a twinkle back into Mandy’s eyes. “From the hospital in Bozeman? Irene and I looked it over, and she says she’ll be my partner. Isn’t that cool?”
“Of all the people I know, she would be the very best.”Except for Bobby, who should be there.
“Do you have any friends giving you a baby shower?”
Mandy’s gaze dropped to the floorboards of the porch. “Umm...no. Not really.”
